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Pog4 4 Wednesday, October 8, 1980 The Michigan Daily
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Feiffer
Vol. XCI, No. 30
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of The Daily's Editorial Board
E0
EVeyone is in-the dark
E'RE ALL completely in the
dark on this one.
Justj at a time when awareness of
nighttime assaults is growing, the
lights around the Diag go out, cloaking
the most-traversed area of campus in
dangerous darkness every night.
Apparently the lights .went out
sometime Sunday, but University
safety officials are in the dark about
that. Not until yesterday did they
become aware that there was some
problem with the lights.
City officials are in the dark about
precisely what caused the difficulty,
bt believe that the State Street con-
struction had something to do with it.
crews working on the sidewalks in the
area have been accidentally cutting
electrical cables located only inches
below the walkways because there are
reportedly no records of the location of
those cables.
And Detroit Edison hasn't been able
A victory for
T HE U.S. SUPREMECourt opened
j its fall session with a host of deci-
sions Monday, some of which may yet
come under negative criticism. At
least one, though, gave in*ication that
a sensible, fair-minded spirit may be in
the air among the nine patriarchs of
the American judicial branch.
The court let stand a lower court's
ruling that there is no /legal
requirement for parents to be notified
before contraceptives are given their
Whildren. The case stemmed from the
activities of a family planning center
in Lansing.
The parents of a 16-year-old girl who
had contraceptives prescribed and
distributed without their knowledge
brought the original suit, claiming that
a minor should not be able to receive
birth control-related medical services
without consultation and approval of
her parents.
In refusing to hear the case, the
court hastallowed a policy to stand that
is undoubtedly helping to hold down the
vast number of unwanted teenage
pregnancies in recent years. Indirec-
tly, the court has acknowledged the
immense harm a reversal of the lower
court ruling would do.
If birth control clinics were forced to
consult with the parents of their
teenage clients, sexually active minors
would be faced with an impossible
dilemma. They could risk the anger of
their parents by admitting that they
were having sex. Or, much more likely,
they could take the chances inherent in
the ,less reliable forms of birth con-
trol-or none at all.
to shed any light on the problem yet.
Edison officials had said yesterday the
lights would be back on by last night,
but the Diag area was not evW
illuminated.
The darkness is all the more
frustrating because it is not really
unusual. For over a week this past
summer, the Diag was dark every
night because some wiring malfun-
ctioned. It took Detroit Edison several
days (when it was light enough to see)
just to find the problem.
Fortunately, until the lights are
restored, the University is providing
increased security in the area and the
police are stepping up patrols.
Even with that security, however,
the Diag is not an especially safe place
after dark. Until Detroit Edison, the
city, and the construction crews can
work together to prevent a repeat of
this problem, extra caution is certainly
advised.
Contraception
Conservatives on the, birth control
issue, of course, have a much simpler
solution. As Ronald Reagan recently
put it: "Whatever happened to just
saying 'no'?" That question's clever-
ness does not excuse its simplemin-
dedness. Whatever the availability or
dearth of birth control measures,
teenagers will continue to be sexually
active. Denying them protection from
the possible consequences of sex
without contraception may make
Reagan and his ideological cohorts feel
"moral," but it will not solve the
problem of the rising pregnancy rate
among unwed mothers. The con-
tinuation of programs like the one in
Lansing does offer hope of a slution,
and the court is to be commended for
giving the program and its confiden-
tiality renewed life.
Still, a problem remains with plan-
ned parenthood c'enters, this one out-
side the jurisdiction of the legal
system: There are not enough of
them. In many parts of the country,
teenagers who need contraception
have no center nearby. In others, par-
ticularly the inner cities, young people
are undereducated about responsible
sexual behavior.
Shrinking budgets notwithstanding,
investment of government monies in
efforts to make birth control infor-
mation and materials available to all
minors who want and need them would
be a wise expenditure indeed. It is
proper for the government to allow
abortions and to fund them when
necessary, but it would be best if fewer
were necessary in the first place.
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LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
All must participate in budget decisions
To The Daily:
Certainly the economic outlook
for The University of Michigan is
bleak. Vice President Billy Frye
has required each school to
devise a "contingency plan"
detailing exactly how it will cut
costs if the University's fiscal
year 1980 allocation from the
state legislature is not at least 3%/
percent greater than last year's.
And it is generally accepted that,
even if the propsed Tisch tax cut
plan is defeated on November,4,
the University will need to
significantly reduce costs in the
years ahead.
Of course, any time budget cuts
are made, toes get stepped on and
hard feelings develop. The
question arises, then, exactly
who should decide how budgets
are to be cut?
The intuitive answer to that
question is "the administration"
since budgetary matters are,
ostensibly, part of its job. But
recent actions by the ad-
ministration of the University in-
dicate that it is neither
reasonable nor without "vested
interests" in the budget-cutting
process, and that is consequently
should not be allowed "free rein-
during the turbulent budget-
cutting times ahead.
Consider an example: Under
heavy pressure from the ad-
ministration, the Regents (in an
action reminiscent of the Walrus
and the Carpenter) expressed
deep regrets, serious reSer-
vations, and great reluctance and
proceeded to approve the largest
tuition increase in the Univer-
sity's history (13 percent). It is
interesting to note that the
University is well ahead of both
the consumer price index and the
"Joneses" in this regard, and
that it retains its place (with a lit-
tle help from high rents) as
provider of the singlermost ex-
pensive college experience of any
major state university in the*
nation.
And yet, despite legitimate
grounds for complaint, students
and their parental benefactors
generally accepted the increase
and the necessity for it.
Then, in an action of un-
paralleled and unmitigated ef-
frontery, the same ad-
ministration that only days
earlier had jacked tuition to un-
precedented heights moved to
shorten the hours of the un-
dergraduate library! Imagine
that. A university with a notable
study-space shortage closing its
library two hours earlier to make
a tiny contribution towards
payment of more important bills
such as payment for the
president's rent free "house,"
construction of one of the most
expensive hospitals ever built,
demolition of one of the most ex-
pensive hospitals ever built, pur-
chase of pretty carpet for the
president's box at Michigan
Stadium, construction of ad-
ditions to the track and tennis
building, payment of ad-
ministration-level salariesto
"administrators" whose duty is
to direct students to available
CRISP terminals, and payment
of rental for photocopying
machines for everybody's office:
Of course, administrators will
tell you, truthfully enough, that
the money for operating libraries
and the money for building.
hospitals comes from different
sources-of te conditional grants
or legally "untouchable" funds.
But rather than justify the ad-
ministration's action, this
situation all the more under-
scores the need for reforms in the
budgetary process. Imagine a
situation where assistant
professors are fired because the
money needed to pay their
salaries is tied up in an "un-
touchable" account used to
provide administrative
perquisites. .
Of course, the story of the shor-
tened library hours has a "hap-
py" ending in a profound
display of noblesse oblige, the
administration agreed to return
the UGLI to its previous
schedule. But how do we know
they won't do it again? How do we
know the whole affair is nothing
more than a red herring, or a
gimmick to enable them to point
to this great compromise during
future disputes?
There are many different
groups with stakes - in the
"budget fights" ahead: ad-
ministrators, academic faculty,
non-academic staff, students,
taxpayers, legislators, etc. All
have legitimate concerns and all
must bear a part of the burden
imposed by hard times.
But it is the university ad-
ministrators who, for all' prac-
tical purposes, have the final say
on budgetary matters. Which are
they more likelt to turn off fir-
st-their air conditioners or the
lights in the undergraduate
library? Which are they likely to
cut first-their salaries or those
of the professors?
The University of Michigan is
an excellent academic in-
stitution. We must not allow
Springstee
To The Daily:
Having subscribed to The
Michigan Daily for four years,
many reviews of campus ac-
tivities have crossed my, path, a
number of them even being of my
own productionse -I have
produced theatre on campus for
almost two years. Until now,
none have irked me enough to
provoke response in written
form. Until now.
Never have I been so concerned
and disturbed over a simple
review of a rock and roll concert,
but RJ Smith's review of Friday
night's Bruce Springsteen show
(Daily, Oct. 5) is clearly
problematic. First of all, Smith
spends over 75 percent of the ar-
ticle voicing his own feelings on
Bruce's importance in American
culture, rather than reviewing a
rock show.
The point must be raised that
this was not an enjoyable article
for attendees of the concert to
peruse, and further, it was cer-
tainly not an informative one for
those Ann Arborites not lucky
enough to be present.
Secondly, in the few lines that
were clearly dedicated to the
show itself, Smith manages to
make a number of points that, at
least to a real Bruce buff, .are
clearly invalid. Why criticize an
artist for growing with the times?
Is it really so bad that "certain
traditions were broken"? Bruce
should be praised, not criticized,
for his desire to constantly
change his live show. Why is it so
terrible that he excluded the un-
til-now compulsory "Spirit in the
Night?" Any hardcore
Springsteen fan knows that he
has almost never forgotten this
song in a concert since the incep-
tion of his first album, Greetings
from Asbury Park, in 1973. And
incidentally, RJ Smith shows his
ignorance by stating that the
academic concerns to be super-
ceded by administrative ones. We
must not allow plush carpets to
be purchased at the expense of
course offerings.
If professors and students can-
not have direct responsibility
(beyond advisory councils) in the
budget-cutting process, then we
must at the very least keep a vigil
and be prepared to rock the boat
noisily if cost-cutting measures
such as the shortening of UGLI
hours are ever again proposed.
-Robert Casad, Jr.
Michigan Student;
Assembly
representative to the
University Budget
Priorities Committee
October 4
?n review hit
omission Hof an oldie to ;open the
show (as well as other numbers)
was the breaking of a tradition,
when in reality these only
became traditional on the latter
half of his mammoth 1978 tour.
Finally, Smith's other 3/4 of the
article-that is, his views of the
sociological implications of this
thing we call "The Boss"-is
filled with negative connotations
toward the fans of the
phenomenon. Why say that
"People went into orbit Friday
night at Crisler Arena ... (but)
not especially because
Springsteen has struck a deep
chord among rock and roll fans"?
And why does Smith assume
that "Springsteen is -playing to an.
audience that by its very nature
is highly susceptible to con-
suming the classicist facade of
his music, and not working to
penetrate further''?
Springsteen's fans are among the
most dedicatedaand intelligent in
rock, because he like all immor-
tals acts on two levels: the sim-
pler, entertaining side and the
more spohisticated side on which
he tries to convey meaning and to
pose questions about the world
around us.
I would be willing to bet that
posterity will be Springsteen's
best friend and that his true
greatness and brilliance will not
be recognized for years to come.
In the meantime, why knock one
of the few pieces of near-
immortality tangible to us, and
certainly a public figure who is no
less than 100 percent real.
Rather, let us celebrate the Boss.
Granted, he is no savior, but
comparisons between Bruce and
God have been made in jest
all weekend and for years before.
This should act as a cue to us, a
cue of his importance to the youth
of America. -Gary Rubin
October 7
NOT MY ROBEM -
Art review assailed
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To The Daily:
I am delighted by the number
of column inches The Daily gran-
ted the September 18 review of
the exhibition of the Hillman,
Family Collection and yet
grieved by the tone of the
headline and the review. Your
reviewer states that there is a
theme to the exhibition (albeit "a
feeble theme"), that the show
"makes a half-hearted effort to
dispay that the innovations
created by Cezanne . . .
culminated . during the cubist
epoch," and that "it can be ex-
tremely difficult to present a
show unified by any sort of
scholarship when the donor has a
spotty aggregation of art works."
I- should like to point out that
this collection of paintings and
drawings accumulated by "a
New York publishing mongul"
accompanies the exhibition, he or
she would have realized that
Cezanne's importance for the
history of modern painting was
merely an observation and not
the statement of a theme for the
exhibition, and that no effort was
made to exhibit Cezanne's
dominance of the School of Paris,
Picasso's response to Cezanne's
innovations, or anything else of
such weighty import.
The Museum recognizes that
there are times when an
exhibition of art benefits from
"unified scholarship" and a
clearly defined theme, and many
of our exhibitions are properly
didactic. But we also feel that
there are times when the Univer-
sity community and the public
would merely like to view a few
handsome works acquired by a
perceptive individual whose
O'Reilly unconvincing
0
To The Daily:
At noon on Monday, Sept. 29th,
I listened to Democratic
Congressional candidate
Kathleen O'Reilly give a speech
on the Diag. At the end of the
speech someone asked her how
she could justify her backing of
- ---- ....4 41-
brought back conscription. She is
no different than a Republican
who is pro-ERA but has to share
the burden of a party that has
dumped the ERA.
It was also interesting to hear
how O'Reilly said she was again-
st the draft. She used the same
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